Notebook: Inside The Offensive Explosion

The following notes were compiled by the Eagles media relations department ...

Chip-ping Away … After going 4-12 a year ago, the Eagles have assured themselves a winning record this season. Since the NFL expanded to a 16-game season in 1978, there have been 146 teams that have gone 4-12 or worse from 1978-2012. Only 36 of those teams (including the Eagles) posted a winning record the following year (24.7%). Below is a detailed breakdown of the team’s turnaround in 2013:

What A Difference A Year Makes

Stat

2012 Eagles

2013 Eagles

Points per Game

17.5 (29th)

27.9 (2nd)

Points Allowed per Game

27.8 (29th)

24.0 (16th)

Total Yards per Game

354.1 (15th)

420.5 (2nd)

Rush Yards per Game

117.1 (13th)

161.9 (1st)

Turnover Margin

-24 (t-32nd)

+10 (t-6th)

Turnovers per Game

2.3 (t-32nd)

1.2 (t-4th)

Takeaways per Game

0.8 (t-32nd)

1.9 (t-9th)

Def. Interceptions

8 (30th)

17 (t-8th)

Saint Nick … QB Nick Foles threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns on 21 of 25 passing for a 131.7 quarterback rating. His 84.0% completion percentage was a team record since single-game statistics have been tracked in 1960 ... Over the last seven games, Foles has a 126.6 passer rating, which is the highest ever by an Eagle over a seven-game span, topping Donovan McNabb’s 115.7 in 2004 … His 118.8 QB rating in 2013 ranks third in NFL history behind Aaron Rodgers (122.5 in 2011) and Peyton Manning (121.1 in 2004) … Foles has eclipsed a 100 rating eight times this season, tying Ron Jaworski (1980) for the second-most in franchise history. McNabb holds the record with nine games in 2004 ... Foles has thrown 25 touchdown passes this season, which is tied for the sixth-highest single-season total in team history.

Offensive Explosion ... The Eagles scored 54 points against the Bears, which ranks as the sixth-highest total in team history and the most at home since 9/23/07 vs. Detroit (56 points) ... Their 514 total net yards and 289 rushing yards both rank as the second-highest total of the season and are 12th and seventh, respectively, in team history ... The Eagles scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the game, including TE Brent Celek’s fifth of the season and the 25th of his career ... The Eagles were 5-5 on red zone opportunities and scored six offensive touchdowns on 10 possessions ... RB Bryce Brown reeled off a 65-yard touchdown and surpassed 100 rushing yards for the first time this season ... The Eagles had two 100-yard rushers in the same game for the eighth time in team history and the first time since 10/28/02 vs. NYG (Duce Staley and Donovan McNabb). The last time two Eagles running backs had over 100 yards in the same game was on 10/8/95 vs. Washington (Charlie Garner and Ricky Watters) ... RB Chris Polk scored for the third time this season. All three Eagles running backs reached the end zone.

It’s Always Shady in Philadelphia … RB LeSean McCoy rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns, marking his 12th-career multi-touchdown game and his 18th 100-yard game (the Eagles have a 15-3 record in those games) ... McCoy tied a personal best with his sixth 100-yard game of this season, which ranks third on the team’s single-season list … His 1,476 rushing yards and 2,012 scrimmage yards both lead the league and rank as the second-highest single-season totals in team history. Wilbert Montgomery had 1,512 rushing yards in 1979 and Brian Westbrook had 2,104 scrimmage yards in 2007 … McCoy now has 39 career rushing touchdowns, moving out of a tie with Westbrook (37) for third in team history. His 48 total touchdowns rank ninth ... McCoy has racked up 7,466 career scrimmage yards. He moved past Duce Staley and Pete Retzlaff and into fourth on the team’s all-time list.

Bear Hunter ... LB Trent Cole had three sacks, marking his third-career three-sack game and his third multi-sack game of the season. It’s the third time in Cole’s career that he’s had three games with at least two sacks in a season and the first since 2010 ... Cole moved out of a tie with Clyde Simmons (76.0) and into second on the Eagles all-time sack list with 79.0 ... Cole has eight sacks in the last eight games, including three games with at least two sacks in the last five contests ... Cole has sacked Jay Cutler six times in his career. The only quarterback he has sacked more times is Eli Manning (8.0).

Defensive Nuggets ... The Eagles forced two turnovers, including a forced fumble by CB Bradley Fletcher and an interception by CB Brandon Boykin, which was returned for a touchdown ... Boykin’s five interceptions are the most by an Eagle since Asante Samuel had seven in 2010. His touchdown was the first defensive score by an Eagle this season and the first of his career ... DE Cedric Thornton tackled Matt Forte in the end zone for a safety, the second of the season for the Eagles ... Matt Forte rushed for just 29 yards, his lowest total since 2011.

Brilliant Backers ... LB Mychal Kendricks had two sacks, marking his first-career multi-sack game ... Kendricks and LB DeMeco Ryans became the second duo of Eagles teammates with at least four sacks and two interceptions, joining Jerome Brown and Seth Joyner, who both had 4.0 sacks and two interceptions in 1987.

Double Trouble … McCoy and WR DeSean Jackson became the 13th duo in NFL history to post 1,300 rushing and receiving yards in a single season ... Jackson’s 79 receptions are the sixth-highest single-season total in team history and the most since Westbrook’s 90 in 2007.

Rewriting the Record Book … The Eagles set team records with their eighth game of 30-plus points in a single season and their sixth game of 450 total net yards this season … Their 418 points this season are third in team history and are just 21 points shy of the team record (439 in 2010) ... With 334 first downs, the Eagles already own the second-best total in team annals behind the record of 356 set in 2011 ... The Eagles have compiled 6,308 total net yards this season which is also second in team history behind 2011’s 6,386.

Turning the Tables ... The Eagles +10 turnover margin this year is the best mark since going +15 in 2009 … The Eagles have committed just 18 giveaways this season, after committing 37 a year ago. The team-record for fewest turnovers is 22 set in 2003 and 2004 … In the Eagles nine wins, they are plus-16 in turnover margin and minus-six in their six losses ... The Eagles have tallied at least one takeaway in 11 straight games, their first time doing so over 11 games in a season since 2006, including playoffs. Their last time doing so in an 11-game stretch in the regular season came in 2004 during a 15-game span.

Touchdown Trio … WR Riley Cooper scored his eighth touchdown of the season. McCoy (10), Jackson (9), and Cooper (8) became the third trio in Eagles history to score at least eight touchdowns each, joining 1965’s Pete Retzlaff (10), Timmy Brown (9) and Earl Gros (9), and 1948’s Pete Pihos (11), Steve Van Buren (10) and Bosh Pritchard (8) ... After catching eight passes for 93 yards (11.6 avg) and one touchdown over the first five games in 2013, WR Riley Cooper has amassed 36 catches for 703 yards (19.5 average) and seven touchdowns over the last ten contests.

Surging Stoppers … The Eagles defense has shown a vast improvement over the last 11 games and the results have been evident on the scoreboard, as the team is holding opponents to just 19.2 points per game over that span, compared to 27.5 points through the first four games … The defense has not allowed opening-drive points in ten straight games … The Eagles have held opponents under 100 yards rushing in 10 of 15 games in 2013, including 9 of the last 11 contests ... The defense has held opposing offenses to 21 points or less in 12 of 15 games this year, which is tied with Seattle for the second most such games, behind only Carolina (13).

Defensive Turnaround

Stat

2012 Eagles

2013 Eagles

Punts Forced per Game

2.8

5.45

Opp. QB Rating

107.2

75.3

Interceptions

2

14

Opp. Completion %

70.2%

57.0%

TDs Allowed per Game

4.0

2.3

Fabulous 400 … The Eagles became the fifth team in NFL history to record 12 games of 400-plus yards of offense in a single season and are one game shy of the NFL record of 13, set by New Orleans in 2011.

Donnie Longball … P Donnie Jones downed two punts inside the 20-yard line, upping his total to 32 for the season and supplanting Jeff Feagles (31 in 1993) for the team record ... Jones’ 44.7 gross punting average is the third-best in team history and his net punting average of 40.2 ranks first.